The present study including two experiments was designed to determine the effect of media containing different rare earth elements (REE) on proliferation and fatty acids accumulation in 3T3-L1 cell cultures. In Experiment 1, 3T3-L1 preadipocytes in 96-well plates () were cultured with Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) for 24 h. Then the media were changed to the following 10 different media for 48 h: DMEM containing 10% FBS for the control; the above media containing , or of , or the mixture of these REE chlorides. The proliferation rate of the cells was measured and compared by a non-isotope method-XTT method. In Experiment 2 the cells in 24-well plates () were cultured in DMEM containing 10% FBS for 7 days until confluent and then were changed to above DMEM containing dexamethasone, methyl-isobutylxanthine and insulin (DMI) for two days. Afterwards the media were changed to the 10 different media with REE supplements as in Experiment 1 and cultured for 6 days. The cells were then harvested for fatty acids analysis by gas chromatography. It was found that supplementation of La (5, 10 and ), Ce ( and ) and the mixture REE (5, 10 and ) stimulated (p<0.05) the proliferation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes (Experiment 1). In the differentiating 3T3-L1 cells supplementation of La ( and ), Ce () and the mixture REE ( and ) decreased (p<0.05) the concentration of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) per , while the supplementation of La (), Ce () and the mixture REE () increased (p<0.05) the ratio of saturated fatty acids (SFA) to MUFA. These results indicate that the supplementation of REE to the media may affect proliferation, differentiation and lipogenesis rates of 3T3-L1 cells. However, the effect may depend upon the level or type of REE applied.